Court seeks further arguments on petition challenging freezing of Nawaz’s assets

An accountability court in Lahore on Friday sought further arguments on an application challenging the freezing of assets owned by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif following his conviction in the corruption references.

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Sharif’s nephew Yousaf Abbas and others filed the petition pleading that the assets frozen by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had already been transferred in the names of different members of the Sharif family.

The petitioners contended that their ancestral properties could not be frozen as the former prime minister had no ownership of them. They asked the court to order unfreezing of their assets.

Presiding Judge Asad Ali adjourned the hearing till March 1 for further arguments from the lawyers of the petitioners and the NAB.

Meanwhile, an accountability court on Friday recorded statements of two prosecution witnesses in the reference of money laundering and illegal assets against Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz.

Hamza appeared before the court while Shehbaz was given a one-time exemption from personal appearance due to Covid-19 infection.

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Defence counsel Amjad Pervez completed cross-examination on the witnesses and the court summoned more witnesses on Feb 11.